Rule 53 Opinions and "No Opinion" Cases of the Supreme Court.

(a) Affirmance Without Opinion. The Supreme Court may affirm a judgment or order of a trial court without an opinion if the court determines:

(1) That an opinion in the case would serve no significant precedential purpose; and

(2) That one of the following circumstances exists:

(A) The judgment or order appealed from is based on findings of fact that are not clearly, plainly, or palpably erroneous;

(B) The evidence adequately supports the jury verdict on which the judgment or order is based;

(C) In a nonjury case in which the judge has made no specific findings of fact, the evidence would support those findings that would have been necessary to support the judgment or order;

(D) The order of an administrative agency is sufficiently supported by the evidence in the record;

(E) The appeal is from a summary judgment, a judgment on the pleadings, or a judgment as a matter of law, and that judgment is supported by the record; or

(F) The court, after a review of the record and the contentions of the parties, concludes that the judgment or order was entered without an error of law.

(b) Designation of Category. When the Supreme Court affirms a judgment without an opinion, it shall in its order of affirmance designate the case as a "No Opinion" case and in its order of affirmance it shall also cite section (a)(1) of this rule and that subpart of section (a)(2) relied upon by the court in its decision to write no opinion.

(c) Publication of Decisions. The reporter of decisions shall publish all opinions of the Supreme Court in the official reports of Alabama decisions, but the text of an order of affirmance in a "No Opinion" case shall not be published in the official reports. The "No Opinion" cases shall be collected in a periodic "Table of Decisions Without Published Opinions," which shall be published in the official reports and which shall indicate the action taken in all "No Opinion" cases. However, if in a "No Opinion" case a Justice writes a special opinion, either concurring with or dissenting from the action of the court, such Justice may instruct the reporter of decisions to publish that special opinion, along with a statement indicating the action to which the special opinion is addressed.

(d) "No-Opinion" Affirmance Not Precedent. An order of affirmance issued by the Supreme Court by which a judgment or order is affirmed without an opinion, pursuant to section (a), shall have no precedential value and shall not be cited in arguments or briefs and shall not be used by any court within this state, except for the purpose of establishing the application of the doctrine of law of the case, res judicata, collateral estoppel, double jeopardy, or procedural bar.

(e) Time of Publication. An opinion of the Supreme Court shall not be published while an application for rehearing is pending. However, the delay in publication caused by this provision shall not affect the precedential value of an opinion.

[Adopted 11-24-92, eff. 1-1-93; Amended eff. 5-23-2001; Amended 4-4-2023, eff. 10-1-2023; Amended eff. 3-31-2026]